


I Thought I Knew You

by Linorien



Series: Q branch short stories [2]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond - All Media Types, London Spy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 10:45:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10512174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linorien/pseuds/Linorien
Summary: From this week's Wordbound prompt: A character opens someone else's desk drawer. What do they find?





	

It was a carefully engineered distraction. 005 didn't know why Bond needed the distraction, but he was happy to oblige. A quick text and moments later the Quartermaster was rushing out of his office, yelling over his shoulder for Bond not to touch anything.

As if he would listen.

There was something the man was hiding, something making his act suspicious. Normally the man was a poor liar, but he was worryingly good about covering this up, whatever this was. So the agent did what he had to. He stole tech.

Crouching behind the Quartermaster's desk, he felt for the hidden compartment he knew was there. He was beginning to doubt that it was a mechanical release when he heard a faint click.

He pulled his hand back and a shallow container lowered from the centre of the desk. He placed his thumb over the concealed biometric scanner and the fake print did its work. The panels slid to the side and the agent gained access to the documents within.

_Top Secret. Project Argus._

Bond had never heard of that.

_Lead agent(s): Q. Alistair Turner._

Alex had been involved? He wondered if his mysterious death was related. Even within the agency some things were not understood about his death. Bond had gathered that he fell in love with a civilian, but the days were long gone when MI6 terminated agents for that. He didn't know Alex well, but he struck Bond as the sort of man who would be very careful even in love.

_Project runtime: August 2014 -_

It was ongoing? Surely Q didn't have much time to spare for a secret project only he worked on. Maybe he had simply forgotten to update the files when Alex died.

_Project objective: Software for large scale analysis of human behaviour with the goal of weeding out falsehoods and predicting future decisions._

Shit. This didn't sound good. Bond hurriedly flipped the cover page to find the latest reports. Due to the secrecy, everything was handwritten. Bond easily identified two different hands. One was a slanted cursive, the other a methodical print. He saw the former become less frequent before disappearing completely. Must have been Alex's handwriting.

Reaching the end of the report section, he read the latest update. It was dated only last month.

_Data from the smart blood have greatly improved accuracy of the lie detector. Analysis of sweat glands has proven successful to within 4σ. Dilation analysis still only within 3σ level._

_Field test of predictive software has correctly placed boundary conditions on subject 256's grocery habits for three months. Furthermore, also predicted spending habits of a close relative during visit. Will proceed with stage two on this subject._

_Stage two experiments are making good progress._

_Stage three is still encountering the same issue. Subjects displaying signs of paranoia and increased attempts at acting unpredictable._

_Will proceed with current work to further language boundaries and adjust algorithm for type IVf personality._

_Report compiled by: Alex Turner_

No. Surely not. But then, why wouldn't they? Bond had faked his own death before. He let the ruse continue for quite some time as well.

Returning the documents and closing the compartment, the agent blindly perused the storage shelves as he thought.

Bond had thought Alex died over a year ago. Bond had thought that Q couldn't keep secrets. Bond had thought smart blood was nothing more than a tracking system that could monitor his vitals. Bond had thought he knew Q.

Now he wasn't sure what he knew.

 


End file.
